They say the third time’s the charm, and, after the breathtaking, ruthlessly efficient one-two punch of “Blossom” and “Modern Ruin”, here we are – at Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes’ album number three – at once a stadium sized declaration of intent and a deeply personal cri-de-coeur called “End of Suffering”.
 
Recorded in just six months over the heatwave that engulfed London last year, End Of Suffering – named after the Buddhist term for enlightenment- is the sound of a band entering an entirely new realm of the senses, a forty minute rock’n’rollercoaster of molten-hot bangers, scorched-soul ballads and grunge lullabies laced through with a lacerating lyrical honesty.
 

When the fury is dialled down however, even more startling shades start to surface. ‘Anxiety’ is a paranoic festival anthem in waiting, while ‘Love Games’ is an absolute beauty; a distortion-heavy nod to Amy Winehouse’s finest moment destined to soundtrack the summer.   ‘Angel Wings’, meanwhile, is as bleakly poetic as Charles Bukowski. A howl of existential despair involving vodka and viocodin induced visions of  ‘feathers made of diamond rings/dragons made of oxygen’ it’s worthy of those other harrowingly honest third albums, The Manic Street Preachers’ Holy Bible & Nirvana’s In Utero (both band favourites).
 
The album also features Tom Morello as a guest guitarist on ‘Tyrant Lizard King’. The two re-connected after many years at Resurrection Festival in Spain last summer, where Frank infamously sung Rage classic ‘Killing In The Name’ to a 40,000 strong crowd, finishing the track with a stage dive worthy of the rock’n’roll hall of fame. 
 
Indeed. In an age of say-nothing pop and codified corporate rock, End Of Suffering does what all great music should- lift the spirits and stir the soul. 
NEW LP “END OF SUFFERING” RELEASED MAY 3 ON INTERNATIONAL DEATH CULT
PRE-ORDER HERE

 

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